Okay, so I’m finding it difficult to write a review of This is the End. It’s not because of writer’s block or anything, it’s because there is so much fun and scary stuff going on that to tell you much about it might lead to spoilers and this is certainly a movie you don’t want to have spoiled.
Let’s try again…
The Players
James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson are the primary players, with Emma Watson, Rihanna, Mindy Kaling, Aziz Ansari, Kevin Hart, Jason Segel, Michael Cera, and Paul Rudd playing minor roles or appearing in cameos.
The Plot
Jay Baruchel arrives in Los Angeles to visit his old friend Seth Rogen. Rogen invites him to a party at James Franco’s house that night. The party is full of Hollywood celebrities drinking, doing drugs, and having sex. Jay and Seth leave the house to get some cigarettes. As they wait in line at the convenience store, a powerful tremor rocks the city. A merchandising fixture falls on Rogen and knocks him down, but Baruchel watches as beams of blue light come from the sky and snatch up customers, pulling them through the ceiling of the store. He then looks outside and sees millions of blue lights drawing people into the sky. When Rogen finally gets up, the blue lights are gone and the world falls into chaos. The pair run back to Franco’s house.
When they arrive, the party is still going on; nobody there is aware that anything is wrong. Suddenly another tremor is felt and, thinking this is an earthquake, all the revelers run outside to see the Hollywood hills are burning. As they stand there stunned, a hole opens up and swallows most of them as others run away. Franco, Rogen, Baruchel, Hill, and Robinson make it back into the house. Since nobody had seen the blue lights except Baruchel, everyone thinks it’s simply an earthquake and they have to just wait and be rescued.
As time goes on, however, they begin to realize the situation is much more serious.
The Scary Stuff
Similar in style to Pineapple Express, there is real brutality in the violence and the characters are in real danger. There are scenes in the movie that are as gory as any horror film out there, and there were at least two scenes where Bride of Scarydad jumped right out of her seat and screamed out loud. Come on, people- it’s the end of the world. This is not a zombie apocalypse where, however unlikely, there is at least the possibility of a cure or survivor colony. Nope, this is the Biblical apocalypse- there is no going back. And as the story progresses, that point is made clear.
The Funny Stuff
All that other stuff said, this movie is funny as hell. Craig Robinson steals every scene he’s in, which he sort of always does. It’s nice to see him get so much screen time in this one because he’s hilarious. The one liners, the slapstick, and the banter is non-stop and even when things are at their worst, someone is saying something funny. These guys are obviously having a lot of fun.
The Rest
Dude, what are you doing? You should go watch this movie. It truly is one of the best comedies I’ve seen in a while. Scarydad gives it a whole bunch of thumbs and fingers.
Oh wait. This is the End has a very hard R rating and is not for kids. Don’t take your kids to see this movie. That’s just bad parenting right there.
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